Role of mgr as innovation catalyst 20110421

© 2010 Catalign Innovation Consulting www.catalign.com

Role of manager as an innovation catalyst

Vinay Dabholkar, Ph.D.

Founder

Catalign Innovation Consulting

[email protected]

21-Apr-2011


“The dream run”by Nandini Tiwary, Times of India, 5 Dec 2010


Can we build stamina for innovation,Like Nandini did for running?

As an organization:


Mar 2009 2005 1998

19661959

Half a century journey!


How can I catalyze innovation?

In this journey

Centre

of Excellence

GlobalBrand

Game

Changer


Let’s avoid TBUs

Managers should become ambidextrous

Spend time on strategic thinking


Story of a technology company inBangalore in 1960

Dr. S. M. Patil, ex-CEO & MD, HMT


Radial drilling machine problem (1959)

2. Follow the process

3. Consult German engineers

4. Send Indian engineer to Germany

5. Get a German engineer to Bangalore (??)

1. Replace the nut


“Give me permission to make 6 arms”

Rajappa meets Patil


Biases in action

1. He is just a matriculate

2. NIH: “Not Invented Here” syndrome

3. You don’t get fired for hiring Germans


What Patil saw & the manager didn’t

1. Ideas can come from unusual sources

2. Crude cost-impact analysis


What is the typical lifecycle of an innovation?


itch

idea

Demo

Idea-to-demo loop

6 arms

Need & Technologyassumptions


Idea-to-demo loop

Need & Technologyassumptions

Demo-to-impact loop

Production & commercializationassumptions

Demo

itch

idea

6 arms



Idea-to-demo loop Demo-to-impact loop

Demo

itch

Sep 2003

Idea (course-match)

Sep 2003

Thefacebook

Feb 2004

Columbia

Feb 25

Stanford

Feb 26

Ad revenueMar end

May 2004

34 sch, 100K

Nov 2003 (facemash)



Demo

itch

Idea (course-match)

1. Course-match

Sep 2003

Sep 2003

Nov 2003 (facemash)

2. Facemash

3. Harvard connection

4. Thefacebook

Thefacebook

Feb 2004

Columbia

Feb 25

Stanford

Feb 26

Ad revenueMar end

May 2004

34 sch, 100K


Exercise:

1. Pick one innovation from your workplace

2. How long was idea-to-demo period?

3. How many demos did it go through?

4. How long was demo-to-impact period?


What can I do?



Demo

itch

idea

1. Help create itches


What are our top 3 or 5 challenges?

1

2

3

Challenge-book


A Sample challenge-book

• Customer doesn’t find right size trouser (PAIN)

• Can we become Centre of Excellence in cloud

computing? (PAIN)

• How do we provide a map on phone for locating

an item in a warehouse? (WAVE)

• Can we replace paper cups with something

reusable? (WASTE)


What would be one challenge relevant for your team?

Our challenge-book

What challenges do you see creatinga challenge book?



Demo

itch

idea

2. Help people communicatetheir idea better

Say: “Great idea! What can you show me tomorrow?”


“Little secret” of innovation leadership

Nobody gets sponsored for the first few demos


Toyota’s tabooed expressions

• Everyone understands that!

• I tried that before and I know it won’t work

• Is this within the budget?

• Let’s talk about this some other time

• That’s not done at this company


Avoid the “virus syndrome”

Focus on “learning”, not “outcome”


Before & After


What kind of demos have you come across?



Demo

itch

idea

3. Champion good ideas


What is “championing an idea”?


1924: S N Bose stumbles upon an idea

No response from Journal

June 4: Sends it to Einstein

July 2: Einstein sends a postcard

“Translated your work and sent it for publication. It is a beautiful step forward”

That’s championing an idea


1934: Works out his pet idea

Jan ‘35: Talk is scheduled

Gets attacked by the Eddington

Chandra dumps the idea!

Revisits 3 decades later, gets Nobel

That’s anti-championing!


Summary

Create a challenge bookGenerate itch

Demos, Before-n-afterHelp communicate ideas

Champion good ideasHelp build credibility

What How


Google “Vinay Dabholkar”


Thank You

Role of mgr as innovation catalyst 20110421

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